Changing is growth

Changing is growth by Kay Laurence | Jan 17, 2019 “I think a big part of allowing yourself to believe there might be a better way of doing things is coming to terms with the fact that you aren’t doing things the best way already. I think that’s a stickler for a lot of people. People are trying to do the best for their dogs, and it’s hard to acknowledge that they might actually be doing the dog harm.” From Eileen Anderson - one of top bloggers in dog training This is an excellent point from Eileen Anderson which launched me into some cognitive gymnastics. We are naturally attracted to familiar ways of training or living with our dogs. We have often worked hard to learn those habits and there is a reluctance to make changes since this is hard work. It takes mentally energy to note what we are not doing well, recall what changes we need to make, find the prompts that can move us to the changes and then work on the skills those changes require. Changes occur because we have either made that choice ourselves to change and improve or been prompted by external events. Those internal prompts can vary from “could I do this better” or “is this fair on the dog”, or “have I really explored all options” or “is this the best there is?” All good questions which may have been prompted by seeing someone else’s skills, doing the same task another way, getting easier or better results or just the pure inspiration from the outcomes. We may also be change motivated by an anxiety of being judged lacking by others, or that internal nag that sound just like a parents’ voice! Fatigue, overload and life’s demands often do not allow for change to wiggle in. There is simply no free space. Building new habits, whether mental or physical, take an investment of time and an energy of personal resources. But those changes, although steep to acquire, are going to gives us an immense return as we harvest the results. There is very little that competes with the boost from the glow of achievement. In our rural situation I need my dogs to alert me to events surrounding the property that are unfamiliar. This can vary seasonally but the arrival of deliveries, or visitors, or stray dogs / peacocks / deer / rams behaving oddly are all requiring my attention. I do not expect the dogs to be able to tell the difference, until I have taught them that the alert is valid, thank you, now you can take a break and go back to Watch Duty. I would be alarmed if they ignored these events, that would be abnormal. On alert, I stop what I am doing, which can obviously be exasperating on the fifth occurrence in

20 minutes and check out The Event. To thank them for doing their tasks there are treats, right now in the kitchen or outside the office window. This calls them away from the alert location and I make every effort to deliver this regularly and reliably, with pre-preparedtreat boxes standing by. The treats are delivered for self-ceasing the alert. Not because I yell at them to stop barking. Even with persistent events, I try to wait for the dog to either seek information from me (look back at the house), or just call it a day. Much will depend on the event naturally passing by, or the threat moving away. The aim is to focus the dogs onto the end of the alert and seek that end as soon as is reasonable. I do not want to stop the alert, but I do want my response to become the “you can stop now as the responsible adult has arrived to resolve this”. Satisfyingly the dogs come off alert with a sense of achievement. Interestingly the events that become regular with only a cease reinforcement available do begin to reduce. They become familiar perhaps? You will see as they alert, there is very frequent looking back to me for the reliable treat shower. But gosh, this took some serious behaviour changes for me as the first response to an interruption wasn’t joy. But when I see the fruits of nurturing this process, I get daily small pleasures. This was a change from me – driven by a nag that the current protocol of getting irritated and annoyed was simply a dose of “not thinking it through”. I absolutely could do better, which is where our creativity needs to be usefully employed. I use this reward for self-ending of many occasions. Our nature is to want to control the uncontrollable (now you know why I enjoy the company of sheepdogs), for many different reasons. But by allowing the uncontrolled to naturally run its course and reward that self-inhibition we leave the dog with confidence in their abilities to be what they are. We will need some self-inhibition employed to not jump in on the immediate cessation, it needs a more than a few seconds for the final completion and we do need to recognise the extreme responses where the dog is stuck in a dark place and will need help to move away from it. Explore COURSES All courses learn well learn it once Key Reading You did everything right but …. But it still hasn’t worked out, even after 6 years? Yeah, it can be disappointing, but at times even the “perfect” protocol, applied with accuracy can undo itself and we go around in the circle again. Read More Learning is not for spectators Are you an Active Learner? Or: Are you

getting your money’s worth for online courses? It would not matter what subject we are talking about:... Read More Ear Myths There is a myth surrounding Border Collies that ear shape, coat colour or texture, and even eye colour are indicators of that dog’s personality,... Read More A View to a Kill? We often hear the claim that the Border Collie is exhibiting predatory behaviour on sheep. But are they really seeking to kill? Read More The Need to Correct an Error When learning is littered with costly mistakes we will carry anxiety and avoidance. Errors are feedback. There should be no fear of error just opportunities to learn. Read More What Words Conceal The language across all kinds of media paints a picture of dogs and our relationships with them. Read More Do We Want Impulse Control? Teaching your Collie “impulse control” is the wrong way of thinking about their urges, and certainly an unhelpful way of dealing with them. Read More Collies : Masters at Laser Focus When we ask the dog to Be Collie and use all their inherited instincts, part of that package is the exclusion of stimulus irrelevant to that intense predatory focus. Read More Since the Dawn of Dog Training The old joke reminds us that the only thing dog trainers can agree on is that their training method in the best one. It becomes increasingly difficult to know which method is “right” and whether it will suit the dog, the situation and trainer’s skills. Read More Back to Basics? The word “basic” is often derided as synonymous with “shallow,” but in its origins it is the very opposite: foundational, profound, supportive. Read More Top Training Living well through movement “The purpose of learning is to get more or better rewards” W. Shultz Can we assume that the more we learn the more rewards we can enjoy? Often these... Read More What We Get Right About Dogs We can learn from remarkable people who have worked with remarkable dogs: training and learning are not the same thing at all. Read More Herding Games For All Dogs? The wrong herding game is like trying to make a tennis player succeed at football Read More Teaching People: more than rewards and reinforcers Familiarisation with the behaviourists’ models of reinforcement, punishment, shaping, extinction, can prevent us from looking outside the windows for either dogs or people … Read More Cognitive Approach for the Dogs Training is something done TO the dog. Learning that is something done FOR the dogs. Read More Location is Their Cue We begin teaching the dog to go to a target, such as a mat or platform and in this process our focus is

on the outcome – the dog can place feet on the object or settle down. But at the same time this learning is happening the dog is also noting the location: where this is happening in this room, in the house, relative to the food-machine (you). Read More Cue Seeking is Connection Connection is very individual and to be authentic we have to observe, slow down, understand our dogs and meet them where they are. Read More Back to Basics? The word “basic” is often derided as synonymous with “shallow,” but in its origins it is the very opposite: foundational, profound, supportive. Read More Do you see what I see Doing better is the reward from doing the work. This work needs to be the right work at the right time with the right intent done in the right way. Read More What’s Cooking? A Warning About Recipes Recipes for “training” dogs are so prevalent in how we live with and talk about them that their existence often goes unquestioned. Read More 2 Comments Helen Mayes on 4th February 2021 at 4:01 pm Can i ask, you go to station after you hear to alert from dogs , wait for dog to stop barking and then give treat Reply Kay Laurence on 4th February 2021 at 10:10 pm I let them know I have checked them out – they will see me appear, and I am ready for the treat delivery when they stop by themselves. So me appearing seems to be the cue, “if you are all done now, you can stop. The alert is over”. Reply Submit a Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Submit Comment Δ